Chapter 2481

The 【War Lord】 title was successfully upgraded to five stars. Along with this good news, Su Xiao also permanently gained the title's combustion-refining permission.

Obtaining a five-star title unlocks this permission, which is good news; however, a title can be combustion-refined at most three times. 【War Lord】 can be refined one more time, which will then be the title's limit.

It is basically impossible to upgrade 【War Lord】 again within this world. According to Su Xiao's exploration, to upgrade a title's star level, it is safest to use 5 sub-titles of the same star level for combustion-refining. Otherwise, there is a possibility of wasting 5 sub-titles and one combustion-refining attempt of the main title, and the consumed Soul Coins would also go down the drain.

Combustion-refining titles is very expensive: 50 Soul Coins per time for three-star, and 100 Soul Coins per time for four-star.

Progress was very smooth. While Su Xiao felt relieved, he checked the attributes of 【War Lord】.

【War Lord】

Origin: Reincarnation Paradise

Quality: ★★★★★

Title Effect 1: Rapid March (Passive), march speed increased by 45% (increased by 10%), stamina consumption of soldiers during marching is slightly reduced.

Title Effect 2: Lord's Authority (Passive), all soldier-type units under the hunter's command will trigger the following buff effects when their numbers reach 1,000, 10,000, 50,000, and 100,000.

1. Morale +60 points (can be triggered by 1,000 soldiers, already triggered).

2. All real attributes +10, no luck attribute (can be triggered by 10,000 soldiers, already triggered).

3. Blood-Bathed Fight (Passive. Lv. 40): If friendly soldier-type units use melee cold weapons, each attack on an enemy has a certain chance to absorb the enemy's vitality to restore their own lost health (can be triggered by 50,000 soldiers, already triggered).

4. Soul-Burning Power (Passive. Lv. 50): Weapons can be imbued with Soul-Burning Power, dealing 40 points of real damage upon attack; this ability will increase the stamina consumption rate of soldier-type units (can be triggered by 100,000 soldiers, already triggered).

Tip: After the above buff effects are triggered, they can be stacked.

Total buffs are: Morale increased by 60 points, all real attributes +10 (no luck attribute), Blood-Bathed Fight (Passive), Soul-Burning Power (Passive).

……

After 【War Lord】 was upgraded to a five-star title, its buffs underwent a qualitative change. Previously, Su Xiao's soldiers had to wait for a war to break out to receive buffs; now, it is different. As long as they are his soldiers and are not too far from him, they can maintain the buff status.

In Su Xiao's view, there are three elements that determine a soldier's combat effectiveness: morale, physical fitness, and finally, the soldiers' skills.

【War Lord】 improved these three, especially the two skills Blood-Bathed Fight and Soul-Burning Power. In large-scale melees, both can have quite powerful effects.

Everything still depends on performance in actual combat. Tomorrow morning, 300,000 war beasts will be delivered to Segona City. By then, Su Xiao's soldiers will be fully armed.

In terms of real power, Su Xiao was one of the four people with the greatest real power in the Sand Flame Kingdom. If the Sand Emperor's plan went smoothly, the new power system would be: the Sand Emperor became the true King, Su Xiao controlled all military power of Sand Flame, Uno managed finance, official transfers, etc., forming a new power triangle.

Besides Spring Iron Sheep himself and his adjutant, there were three others in the tent. These three wore the gray-green clerical robes unique to the Peru Kingdom, and their pupils were all emerald green.

"Mao God sent you here just to deliver this thing?"

Spring Iron Sheep glanced at the three from the 'Mao Sheng God Sect'. Like his elder brother, the Peru King, he looked down on the 'Mao Sheng God Sect'.

"Spring Iron Sheep, we are willing to assist you because of the God's guidance. This artifact can help you win the war."

A divine envoy crouched on the ground, one hand pressed on a half-meter-tall stone statue. This statue had wings on its back, a ferocious expression, and fangs. Just looking at it gave one an ominous feeling.

"With it, your dwarf warriors will be stronger."

"Hmph."

Spring Iron Sheep snorted coldly. He didn't need to think to know that anything the Mao Sheng God Sect brought must have significant side effects.

"It can make the dwarf warriors fearless."

The divine envoy raised his hand, and the purple-black flames on the stone statue faded.

"What is the price?"

"There is no price."

"……"

Spring Iron Sheep looked at the divine envoy and tilted his head slightly. His adjutant beside him immediately leaned in to listen.

"Understood, my lord."

The adjutant retreated. Before long, the sound of armor clashing came from outside the tent.

"Spring Iron Sheep! What do you mean by this?"

The three divine envoys' complexions were very ugly, their pupils turning ghostly green.

"This stone statue comes from the Ancient Civilization Continent. It is called 'Soul-Eating Ravage'. According to secret records, an extremely evil deity once used it to collect the souls of believers. It cannot make soldiers fearless; instead, it collects their souls after they die. There is one thing I am curious about."

Speaking of this, Spring Iron Sheep slowly stood up.

"I am curious, who gave Mao God the guts to let you send this thing to me? Without the Peru Kingdom, Mao God would have been eaten by the Penier family long ago. Decades ago, he knelt before the Peru King, begging us to help him deal with the Penier family. That is why we united with the fake king's father, Fierce Dog Uno, and the Brave Skull tribe to slaughter the Penier family. Today, has Mao God forgotten the past favors?"

Golden mist drifted from Spring Iron Sheep's body, and golden lightning flashed within the mist.

Seeing this, the three divine envoys all knelt on the ground with a thud.

"Lord Spring Iron Sheep, please, you must use it. This is for Peru……"

Before the divine envoy could finish speaking, Spring Iron Sheep waved his hand.

"Drag them out and slaughter them all. And this thing, smash it. Peru will not rely on such evil things. Before the last dwarf dies, the Peru Kingdom will not perish."

Spring Iron Sheep was very decisive because he knew that this stone statue was a trap.

Amidst a chorus of pleas, the three divine envoys were dragged out of the tent, and soon it became completely quiet.

"Mao God… what is he afraid of?"

Spring Iron Sheep frowned in thought. The Mao Sheng God's behavior was too abnormal; he actually wanted to collect souls on the front line. Once the dwarf soldiers found out about this, it would trigger catastrophic consequences.

Judging from the Mao Sheng God's actions, the other party wanted to accumulate power in a short time to deal with something. If not afraid to a certain extent, the Mao Sheng God would not do this.

What Spring Iron Sheep didn't know yet was that he no longer needed to guard against the Mao Sheng God. Tomorrow morning, he would face the most difficult war of his life; 300,000 beast cavalry were about to arrive on the battlefield.

The next morning, the dark red on the plains was diluted. A heavy rain fell last night, the air became fresh, and there was a unique smell of soil after the rain.

The area around Segona City became lively. Soldiers led war beasts. The war beasts were not small, shorter than horses but stronger, with a physique close to large felines, covered in black fur, and their meat paws, as thick as a mouth, left plum blossom prints on the ground. They had sharp teeth, claws, and long tails.

The war beasts' torsos were wrapped in armor plates. Even with over 900 pounds of armor plates on them, their movements remained agile. The weight added by the soldiers riding on them meant nothing to them.

There are two reasons why war beasts are expensive: first, the breeding cycle is long; second, they are difficult to tame. First, they must be made to distinguish between Sand Flame people and dwarves, then they must be made not to fear loud noises, not to flee after being injured, and not to go mad on the chaotic battlefield, while obeying the cavalry's orders, etc.

After the whole process, a war beast can go to the battlefield. Later feeding and other things are also a significant expense.

Su Xiao's soldiers had all ridden war beasts, but only for a short time. This was a necessary subject during recruit training. As for perfect coordination with the war beasts, that was not to be thought of for the time being; it would take at least a few wars to achieve that.

Someone in Sand Capital requisitioned these war beasts, which had already caused resentment among other Grand Commanders. If the cavalry were also transferred, other Grand Commanders would disobey orders, which would lead to the breakthrough of multiple defense lines. These 300,000 war beasts were borrowed, with a time limit of 7 days. What will happen after 7 days is uncertain.

Compared to forced requisition, borrowing for 7 days is easier for those Grand Commanders to accept. Sand Capital will not renege on this point, otherwise, it would shake the morale of the army.

Regarding this behavior, Su Xiao's evaluation was that the other party was too anxious. As soon as he showed signs of defeat, they gave such reinforcements. This shows that someone in Sand Capital has waited too long, or rather, the Sand Flame Kingdom's perennial defeats have made the other party lose hope. Right now, this is a gamble.

Su Xiao stood on the city wall and looked around. A total of 300,000 soldiers were riding war beasts. It was time for a decisive battle with Spring Iron Sheep.

Hum～

The horn was blown, the soldiers let out a uniform shout, the war beasts roared, and a dragon roar silenced all sounds.

Su Xiao leaped onto the dragon's back, drew the long blade from his waist, and pointed it straight ahead.

"Flatten the Peru Kingdom."

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The black dragon flew up, and the beast cavalry below marched forward. If other Grand Commanders on their side saw this scene, they would be astonished to find that the marching speed of this beast cavalry was faster and more imposing than the Peru Kingdom's Male Sheep Cavalry Regiment.

Wherever the war cavalry went, no grass grew, and living things retreated.

Miao House